Depending on the extent of the changes found in the breast tissue, mastopathy is divided into grade I to grade III. With increasing remodeling of the tissue, the risk increases that originally benign changes will develop into a malignant neoplasm. Thus, this classification is primarily used to make a certain statement about this very risk.
Prevalence of mastopathy
Only about one in ten women has grade III mastopathy. It is thus rather rare, but problematic in that women with this finding have a significantly increased risk of breast cancer. Another difficulty and fear of those affected is that a malignant change cannot be detected in time due to the highly altered breast tissue. Therefore, the diagnosis of grade III mastopathy can be a great emotional burden for a woman.
However, women with simple mastopathy do not have to worry about breast cancer; here, the focus is more on dealing with one’s own body image and the need for those affected to view these changes as “normal” in themselves.
Therapy and treatment
Some women live completely unaffected by these benign changes, while others have their quality of life severely impaired, at least temporarily, by the changes. Then the mastopathy itself cannot be treated, but the resulting discomfort can. If the examinations have shown that there is no malignancy behind the breast changes, there is the possibility of treating the mastopathy with medication. Hormone preparations are used here.
Herbal remedies (especially monk’s pepper or cream with cinquefoil), homeopathic preparations (e.g. Phytolacca) or Schüßler salts are also used with good success. Another small, albeit weak, consolation: after menopause, the complaints as a result of hormonal changes almost always cease.
Precaution and prevention
Women affected by mastopathy should regularly palpate their breasts to become familiar with the existing changes. The best time is once a month after the onset of menstruation. Furthermore, it makes sense to regularly attend the preventive check-up at the gynecologist, which also includes a palpation of the breast. And women who are worried because of a strongly pronounced mastopathy can also find competent contact persons in so-called breast centers.
